Thousands of marchers converged on Whitehall on Saturday 18 May in a big demonstration of support for the Defend London’s NHS campaign.

Many of us from the Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition were at the head of the march, which brought together campaigners from across London, as it set off from the South Bank to Downing Street. Our Shirley Franklin, chair of DWHC, told the marchers what had been happening at the Whittington just before the start. See the video here.

The rally in Whitehall was addressed by Camden Keep Our NHS Public chair Candy Udwin, and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, before a letter was handed in to 10 Downing Street saying that the closure of nine A&E units across London, a number of maternity units and thousands of hospital beds will put Londoners’ lives at risk.

The letter said: “We support a National Health Service which is publicly funded, publicly delivered and publicly accountable, delivering care according to need and free at the time of access, to everyone irrespective of personal wealth.

“We are calling on the Prime Minister for an immediate end to the closures and privatisation threats to London’s NHS.”

What we are fighting for

* We are opposed to the rundown, closure or privatisation of all hospitals and hospital departments and any other key health services in North London.

* We want to stop the sell-off of our NHS.

* We call for the repeal of the Health and Social Care Act - the government measure which opened the way for big private companies to take over our hospitals and health services and shut them down if they don't make enough profit.

* We call for full funding of our NHS to meet our health needs, free at the point of delivery.

* We are proud of our caring staff at the Hospital, and welcome the diversity of the staff.